Monsoon arrives in Goa, earliest in 20 years

Southwest monsoon arrived in Goa Sunday, two weeks ahead of its usual onset date of June 5, report Nida Sayed & Newton Sequeira. "This is the earliest monsoon onset in past 20 years in Goa. We can look forward to an increase in rainfall activity in the coming weeks," IMD director Nahush Kulkarni told TOI. In 2006, the monsoon had arrived in Goa on May 28. As of Saturday, IMD recorded 436.1mm rainfall since March 1 - third highest in 64 years. The highest pre-monsoon total was 662.2mm in the summer of 1961, followed by 591.9mm in 2006.

M R Ramesh Kumar, meteorologist and retired chief scientist of National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, attributed this year's early monsoon to both large-scale and local ocean-atmosphere parameters.

IMD has issued an orange alert from May 26 to 29, forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places in Goa, accompanied by squally winds of 40-50 kmh, gusting up to 60 kmh.